Always a Frog, Never a Prince: The Man in Black
by Boulder
Summary: Sequel to Always a Frog, Never a Prince. Upon returning to Angel Grove Kimberly and Adam must attempt to pick up where they left off despite new problems coming between them. Please RR
1. Chapter 1 revised: Touchdown

Disclaimer

I own nothing so please don't sue

Background

Okay, so here it goes again. My second go at an attempted sequel for Always a Frog, Never a Prince. If you haven't read my first story that you're probably not gonna understand what's going on here…sorry. And now to the apologies, yes I know, I do that a lot and I'm not gonna make any excuses for my own ineptitude. All I can do is say that I'm sorry to the readers who enjoyed the first story and were hoping for a sequel. I did attempt a sequel a couple of years ago, the story before I re-edited it contained the first chapter however after a couple of months of banging my head against a brick wall I decided to pack it in. But now I'm back again, I don't know, maybe I'm a glutton for punishment. To try and atone for the extended hiatus on this story I present to you the first two chapters of my rewrite. I'm still trying to get back into the groove so I apologize for any mistakes and if the story isn't as good as the first one. Anyways, thanks for reading this and I hope you enjoy the story.

Regards

Boulder

**Always a Frog, Never a Prince: The Man in Black**

The landing was a soft one.

Kimberly Anne Hart sat silently in her window seat listening to the roar of the burly engines as the pilot applied the brake, slowing the plane. It was funny, when she'd first started flying the increased volume had made her nervous. Her overactive imagination had wondered if the engines were making that noise because there was a problem. Images of overheating machinery and an ear splitting explosion had danced through her mind and she'd always kept her eyes firmly closed until the sound had dissipated and the plane had begun to trundle slowly towards the docking station, much as it was now. Now, though, it was different. She didn't exactly remember when she'd stopped being a nervous flier, but the memory of all those times had stayed with her.

A soft ping echoed throughout the cabin followed by the soothing voice of the Captain who announced that they had arrived at their destination. He stated the time, the weather and the usual warning about waiting until the seatbelt sign had been switched off before standing before thanking all passengers for traveling with the airline and wishing everyone a pleasant stay.

Kimberly often wondered if all Captains said the same thing, although she could never remember to make a mental note about what the last had said. She decided that this time she would.

The scramble, as people left their seats the instant the seatbelt light blinked out, was normal. It occurred to Kimberly that people always seemed to think that if they didn't rush then maybe the plane would take off again. It was a handy mentality to have, say, for a bus or a train, where that was a very real possibility. But on a plane it just seemed silly.

She sat patiently, watching the people around her removing their hand luggage and stretching stiff limbs. Smiling at her neighbor, as he made room for her to exit her seat, Kimberly slipped by him and removed the single, pink, handbag that she'd stored in the overhead compartment and stood silently behind him listening to others around her chatting about seeing family, or sightseeing.

For the first time since she'd left Florida, Kimberly felt nervous and her stomach had wrenched uncomfortably as she'd stood. The butterflies inside her felt like they were less dancing and more like they were having a full blown keggar. She felt bloated and about to be physically sick.

It was stupid. She knew that.

"_People don't change in six months,"_ her reasoning soothed, temporarily calming her before it added a rather harsh, _"I think."_

She took deep, calming breaths and tried to relax. Her feelings about him hadn't changed, and, after what they had been through, she was pretty sure that his wouldn't have changed either.

So why this feeling?

There was movement ahead of her and a few seconds later Kimberly was shuffling her way towards the exit along with the rest of the passengers, all the way trying desperately to keep her lunch down. Before she knew it, she was at the door.

"Thank you, enjoy your stay," a young female flight attendant with a dazzling white smile chirped as Kimberly passed her and exited the plane.

An, "Urgh," was all she could muster.

Moving up the tunnel, Kimberly felt the fresh, Californian air wash over her, and though it eased her slightly once she cleared the tunnel exit she moved slightly to one side, so as not to cause an obstruction, and leaned against the hard, stone wall of Angel Grove Airport.

It was all fear she decided. Fear of the unknown, fear that what had happened to her in the past would happen again. Fear that when she walked through that arrivals gate, instead of seeing his smiling face, the only thing that would greet her would be an awkward smile and an uncomfortable conversation. Fear that he would break her heart.

Kimberly noticed that the stream of people exiting the tunnel was starting to slow. A few of them cast curious glances her way, probably wondering why she was waiting there. Thankfully, nobody asked her what the problem was. She was glad for that small mercy. Imagine trying to explain that the reason you didn't want to leave the limbo between immigration and the airplane was because you were afraid of the man that you'd fallen in love with.

She giggled at that thought and almost instantly felt better. Trying to imagine Adam as anything but kind and generous was a trial in futility. She recalled Rocky once saying, before she and Adam had been together, that _"When he dies, he's going to run for Jesus!"_

Although it was meant as a joke most of the rangers seated around the table had agreed, including her. Adam had only turned a deep shade of crimson and, knowing this, they'd kept it up all through the evening referring to him as only _"Future JC."_

She giggled again and began to make her way towards immigration. The memories of the past washing away any nerves and fears that she'd had.

Suddenly, she couldn't wait.

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Adam Park was a wreck.

And his best friend Rocky DeSantos wasn't making him feel much better.

"All I'm saying is…what if she's put on, like…I don't know…200 pounds. Would you still love her?" the former red ranger asked while leaning on the steel bar that ringed the arrival gate.

A rather heavyset woman shot him a disgusted look that Rocky either didn't see it, or chose to ignore. "I'm not answering that," Adam said, his eyes still glued to the gate and his teeth still clenched, "Now will you shut up?"

"Ha!" Rocky spat standing upright, "Good luck with that, many have tried."

"Why are you here again?"

Rocky gave him a sideways look, "You know why."

"Well then I obviously forgot, so tell me again," despite his apparent annoyance Adam was secretly thankful for the red rangers company, if anything Rocky was a welcome distraction. Had he come here alone he probably would've arrived six hours early and swiftly proceeded to drive himself insane with worry about how Kimberly was going to react when she saw him.

"I don't wanna be home when the Misses gets back," Adam smiled, he knew for a fact that Trini hated Rocky referring to her that way.

"And why's that?"

"I might have had a small accident this morning," Rocky muttered evasively, "It's nothing too major."

Adam was suddenly interested, "Really? You didn't tell me you did something wrong."

Rocky paused, "I didn't?"

"No, you didn't" Adam smiled, "You said,_ "Trini's pissed off with me"_ You never said she was going to be. She's gonna be pissed right?"

Rocky raised his eyebrows and exhaled loudly, "Oh yeah."

"So what did you do?"

There was silence, Adam let it hang there knowing that this was what Rocky did. He liked to feel like he kept people in suspense when he was telling a story by building up the tension, and to be fair for most people he did. But Adam and Aisha knew him well enough for it not to bother them so much."

After twenty seconds Rocky finally spoke, albeit slowly, "I…may have…ripped the shower nozzle out of the wall this morning," he ended the sentence quickly.

Adam just stared at him, "But you turned the water off afterwards right?"

Rocky gave him a blank look.

Adam burst into laughter. The heavyset woman huffed loudly and moved further away from the two, muttering something under her breath. This time though, it was Adam who didn't notice. "I panicked okay," Rocky said defensively, "As soon as it happened I just ran, all the way to your place. That reminds me, you need to give me a new key to your apartment. I may have lost my old one."

"Did you pick my lock again?"

Rocky held up his hands, "Hey relax, don't get mad, once the Misses gets a hold of me I'm as good dead anyway," he said and hung his head dejectedly.

Adam smiled and shook his head, "I still don't understand how you managed to rip the shower out. What were you doing? Hanging from the thing?"

Rocky stared ahead, a confused expression plastered all over his face, "Not even I know, I mean the thing wasn't even loose, I just wanted to redirect the spray and the next thing you know I'm being blasted into the back panel with the damn thing in my hand. It was really weird." He suddenly turned to Adam and grinned, "I am so dead aren't I?"

Adam grinned back, "Yep, pretty much."

Rocky shrugged and turned back to facing the gate, "Thought so."

Smiling Adam leaned back on the metal bar and turned his attention to a part of the airport he'd ignored up until now, which of course was the rest of it. He suddenly felt a lot better about his and Kimberly's relationship, the uncomfortable ness he had felt when first arriving had receded into no more than a faint doubt.

Hell, if Trini could forgive Rocky, which, probably after about six days of beatings, she would, then he had absolutely nothing to worry about. He didn't even know why he'd been worried in the first place. He and Kimberly spoke on the phone and via email quite often and they'd both assured each other that the way that they had felt when Kimberly had left six months ago had not changed. For him this was definitely true, and he was relatively sure that it was the same for Kimberly. It was possible that she had been lying over the phone because she wanted to tell him that her feelings had changed in person. But he doubted it.

Closing his eyes he took a deep breath. For the first time since he arrived he was feeling excited, the butterflies in his stomach had all but gone and he couldn't seem to be able to wipe the stupid smirk that had materialized on his face off.

He felt Rocky give him a small nudge and whisper, "Hey Romeo."

That was literally a second before a soft, teasing voice said, "Ahem?"

Adam froze. The butterflies were back.

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When Kimberly was passing through the arrivals gate she'd immediately spotted Rocky. She couldn't miss him really. Wearing old, tattered jeans and a paint splattered t-shirt, his hair was sticking up at every conceivable angle and he'd looked like he'd just fallen out of bed.

To put it simply, he looked like a tramp.

Beside him, facing the opposite direction was Adam. Her heart jumped into her throat as soon as she saw him, or at least saw the back of his head. A smile appeared on her face and she started to make her way towards them, dragging the small, electric pink suitcase behind her. The butterflies reappeared in her stomach, only this time there was no wrenching pain or worry. This time they were good butterflies. The kind she'd felt just before her and Adam had shared their first kiss.

Turning his head in the direction of the gate Rocky spotted her and proceeded to open his mouth to say or, rather, shout something. She quickly made a shushing sound with her one free hand. At first he just stared at her puzzled, his mouth still hanging open, but then with a smile he closed it and proceeded to give Kimberly what was probably the most over exaggerated wink in the history of mankind. She rolled her eyes but, at the same time, felt the smile on her face grow even wider, until it had turned into a full toothed grin.

Adam was still facing away from her by the time she reached the barrier that they were standing behind. Her ears picked up a muttered, _"Hey Romeo,"_ from Rocky before she opened her own mouth. "Ahem?" she said and watched his entire body stiffen. She was reminded of her father telling her once that if you shined a light into wild rabbits eyes while walking through a field it would freeze from a mixture of shock and terror. She hoped that it didn't have the same meaning with men.

Adam whirled round an instant later, the look on his face making her heart melt. He looked so cute and bewildered, as if the thought of her sneaking up on him was almost impossible to comprehend. His eyes met hers and on doing so he smiled shyly and glanced away. A, "H…Hi," was all he could seem to muster.

At that moment Kimberly was both relieved and overwhelmed. Things hadn't changed a bit, neither her feelings for him nor his feelings for her, that much was obvious. And although all she wanted to do was throw her arms around him, she wasn't about to let him get off that easily.

"H…Hi," she mimicked playfully, "That's all I get," she released the handle of her suitcase before setting both hands firmly on her hips and a scowl on her face, "No, how are you? It's great to see you?"

Adam looked stricken, "No, I didn't mean…" he blurted out before catching the playful smile tugging at the corner of her mouth. He chuckled and, embarrassed, rubbed the back of his neck, "It's great to see you."

Kimberly nodded approvingly, "Damn right it is."

He cocked an eyebrow, "When do you leave again?"

She swatted him on the chest, "Funny aren't you?" she teased.

"Hilarious," he countered.

They fell into silence, and for a few moments, neither were really sure how many, they embraced each other over the barrier.

"I missed you," Kimberly whispered into his ear gently, holding him even tighter.

At that moment Adam couldn't possibly imagine the scene being anymore perfect than it already was.

"Well…she didn't get fat anyway," Rocky said, smacking Adam on the back in congratulations.

Okay, maybe it could've been a little more perfect.

**To Be Continued**

Okay, from writing this chapter I realized three things about myself.

I suck at introspective writing and…

I really enjoy writing Rocky, probably more than any other character, which is weird since Adam was always my favourite ranger

I have absolutely no idea how long it takes to fly from Florida to California (sorry)

Anyways, whether you like or dislike the story please review (constructive criticism only please) and if you continue on you'll hear more from me soon.

Regards

Boulder

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	2. Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home

**Chapter 2: Home Sweet Home**

Adam couldn't stop smiling.

Try as he might, no matter how much his face ached he just couldn't get the smile off. It was like it had been surgically attached or something. It was a good thing he was driving or Kimberly, currently seated in the back of his black pickup, might have thought that he'd gone clinically insane.

Rocky had, of course, offered to drive but Adam stated that there was no way he was letting him touch his car while the red rangers' had looked like he had taken it on a road trip through Afghanistan. Rocky had protested that comment saying that: "_Even though it has a few scratches, I'm still yet to crash into anybody!"_ Adam had remarked that that was nothing to be proud of.

And so here they were, he kept glancing in the rearview mirror to try and catch a glimpse of the former pink ranger but she was seated directly behind him and so out of his line of vision. If he wanted to see her, he'd have to wait.

"You're lucky you can't see his expression Kim," Rocky said from the passenger seat, "It'd scare the shit out of you! OWW," the red ranger grabbed his thigh, "I've a dead leg now you asshole."

Kimberly giggled, "You boys never change do you?"

Adam smiled, "Rocky keeps trying to bribe me with lap dances from Trini you know."

Rocky looked stricken, "That's a lie!" he craned his head back to look at Kimberly, "_Lucky bastard,"_ passed through Adam's mind followed by, "_Stupid traffic laws." _"You're a bad influence on him Missy," he scolded wagging a finger in Kimberly's direction.

Kimberly laughed, "And your not?"

"Fair enough," Rocky turned back to face the right way round.

"So how was the flight, tiring?" Adam mentally kicked himself for asking such a stupid question, "_Oh yeah, a six hour flight from Florida to California is __**real**_ _draining…jackass."_ He couldn't help it though, he was so anxious, all he wanted to do was hold Kimberly. But first, he had to get them back to his place safely. He cursed Rocky for being such an irresponsible driver, this was all his fault.

Kimberly smiled from behind him, "It was okay," she replied, "I've done it so many times that it just feels second nature to me now."

"Right, right," Adam mumbled in front of her.

He was so cute and nervous. Kimberly decided that she was going to have some fun with him. Watching the familiar scenery pass her by she kept her voice as conversational and innocent as possible before asking, "So where are we heading?"

"Back to my place," although the reply was automatic Kimberly caught an ever-so-slight fearful edge that ended the sentence.

"Oh…" she waited a few seconds, "So I'm staying at your place?"

"Uh…yeah…I mean…that is…if you want to…that is," he replied, slightly rambling as he desperately tried to put together a cohesive sentence. She could just see the look on his face. All wild eyed and worried. The fact that Rocky was sat there grinning at him made it even easier.

She had to bite her lip to keep the laughter out, "No...It's fine, I just wasn't sure that's all," she let her voice lilt a bit baiting him even further.

"I can take you to a hotel if you want to go to a hotel. It's no problem," Adam spluttered, the words coming out so fast that Kimberly had trouble keeping track of them.

And then she was laughing. Laughing so hard that her stomach ached and tears started to well up in her eyes. Adam sat silently in the front, probably burning brighter than a Roman Candle, and waited for the laughter to subside just enough that she would hear him.

"Very funny," he said, the nervousness in his voice disappearing.

"Aww, I'm sorry," Kimberly scooted closer and slipped an arm around the headrest and rested her hand on his chest. She thought that, by doing this, it would've relieved any tension and embarrassment that he was feeling but, if anything, she felt his body get tenser. "I was only joking," she said, slightly apologetically.

"I know, I know," he replied both quickly and earnestly, "You had me going there," he chuckled. Even though she knew the chuckle was forced she still believed his words, however the tension in his body and in his voice still hadn't disappeared.

"Are you sure? You still seem a little…"

"I'm fine," he said, well, more like snapped.

It was then she remembered. She looked to Rocky for confirmation, but the red ranger was staring out of the window, a sullen expression on his face. It was really all the confirmation she needed. A sad smile crossed her lips, "Okay," she said, sitting back in her seat.

"You wait till you get home," Adam threatened jokingly.

The tension in his voice was gone.

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By the time that they pulled into the parking bay of Adam's dormitory Kimberly had, more or less, completely dismissed the incident in the car. She knew that it would take time before Adam was completely comfortable with her touching his body. It was understandable given his past experiences.

She decided to make a conscious decision that it didn't bother her. Which was a pretty meaningless conscious decision as how could it? They were just going to have to go slow that's all, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Besides, both Adam and Rocky had almost immediately reverted back to their regular banter of too and fro and, once she'd gotten in on it too, the time passed pretty quickly.

Knocking the gear stick into park Adam switched off of the engine, "Home sweet home," he chimed. He didn't know why he said it, but it was fast becoming a habit of his to say those three words whenever he arrived back at the dorms. Maybe it was because the best thing that had ever happened to him had happened on these very grounds. Actually, that was probably it.

Now for the best part.

Turning in his seat he faced Kimberly and smiled. She wasn't wearing anything special, blue jeans and a pink top with her hair tied back in a neat ponytail, but she still took his breath away. "Let's get you all moved in shall we?"

Kimberly groaned in pleasure at the thought, "I can't wait, I really need a shower."

"I think you smell terrific."

"What is wrong with you?" Adam stared at his best friend incredulously.

Rocky waved a hand dismissively at him, "You know you're thinking the same thing."

"Uh, thanks Rocky, I think."

"Anytime," Rocky beamed, "I do like the ladies to feel special."

"I think I might end up seriously hurting you one day," Adam said, his voice surprisingly serious even though it was obvious he was joking.

"Pfft, yeah right," the red ranger scoffed, "We both know you love me too much."

"That's true," Kimberly added.

"Oh. So you're on his side now?"

She held up her hands, "All I want is a shower."

Adam laughed, "Okay, fine, let's get you a shower your highness."

"Why thank you."

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"So how long are you gracing us with your presence for Miss Hart?" Rocky asked as Adam unloaded her bag from the trunk.

"Just two weeks I'm afraid," Kimberly smiled sadly. She really wanted to stay longer but her training schedule was so busy that it was a virtual impossibility.

"So, we going to see you in the Olympics anytime soon?" Adam asked reappearing with pink suitcase in hand.

Kimberly smiled, "Maybe, who knows. My coach says that if I train hard enough and have a little bit of luck on my side then anything's possible."

"You'll make it," Adam said firmly, more importantly, he believed it.

Kimberly turned slightly red under his faith in her, "I hope so."

"Hurry up will you," Rocky complained, "I wanna firmly entrench myself in my apartment and triple deadbolt the door before it's too late."

Kimberly laughed, having heard all about Rocky's shower mishap in the car she couldn't blame him for being edgy. Especially since when asked how Trini was, his response had simply been, "_Insane."_ Despite his remark though, and despite the fact all Trini did was complain about him when they spoke she knew that their relationship was a strong one. If it hadn't been then the yellow ranger would have kicked him to the curb long ago, she only put the effort in when she thought it was worth it.

"Yeah, yeah, we're going," Adam said, "Keep your shirt on," he turned to Kimberly, "You know the way right?"

Kimberly cocked an eyebrow, "I think I remember."

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"SO HERE YOU ARE!"

Letting out a very unmanly shriek Rocky managed to backpedal, grab Kimberly and thrust her out in front of him like some sort of human shield, all in one fluid motion. Although bewildered, Kimberly was also impressed, "Stay back woman," he warned.

"DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT MY APARTMENT LOOKS LIKE?" the former yellow ranger thundered before a small smile crossed her lips, "Hey Kim," she gave a small wave.

"Hey," was all Kimberly could manage.

"IT LOOKS LIKE A DAMN SWIMMING POOL, THAT'S WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE," Trini turned her attention back to her boyfriend.

Clearing his throat Rocky composed himself and began to talk in a low, soothing voice, "Sweetie, I know your angry but if you'll let me explain then I think you'll agree that this isn't entirely my f…"

"WHAT THE HELL DID YOU DO?" she advanced two steps towards him.

"Nothing," the composure was gone, Rocky backpedaled again, dragging Kimberly with him.

Adam, who had been the last to enter, and so, by proxy, was blocking the doorway suddenly realized something. "Wait a minute. How did **you**, get into **my **room?" Trini glanced over at Adam and then back to Rocky.

"Uh…yeah…about that…" Rocky began.

"YOU taught her how to pick my lock didn't you?" Adam accused.

Rocky gave Adam a "_Really?"_ look, "Now really isn't the time," he hissed, while at the same time making sure Trini was at least five feet away from him and therefore out of pouncing distance.

"I don't believe this," Adam muttered to himself.

"Yeah, get over it Adam, at least your apartment doesn't look like the **Dead Sea**," Trini said.

"She's got a point."

"YOU SHUT UP!"

"Uh, guys," Kimberly raised a hand slowly, "This is fun and all but could we, maybe, call a ceasefire? At least until after I shower."

"Yeah, come on Treen," Rocky urged, "I mean, you've been talking about how excited you were that Kimberly was coming back for weeks now. Do you **really** want to spoil it by making her watch you rip me limb from limb. There'll be blood all over her."

Trini glared at Rocky. Then she switched her attention to Kimberly who gave her best friend the most convincing smile in her arsenal. The yellow ranger shook her head and smiled, "It's really great to see you Kim."

Kimberly moved out of Rocky's grip and hugged her friend, "You to."

Once the hug was over Trini looked at her boyfriend, "Fine, a truce, for now…" narrowing her eyes she pointed a finger at Rocky, "But you wait until I get you alone."

"I'm positively giddy with anticipation."

"There's some fresh towels in there," Adam mentioned moving past Rocky and placing a hand on Kimberly's back, "Save you unpacking your things. Trini can bring your clothes in, can't you Trini?"

The yellow ranger smirked, "I suppose, but I thought that that would've been something you would want to do yourself."

"Stop teasing him Trini," Kimberly scolded as her boyfriend turned a deep shade of red, "Besides…" she said turning to him, "…there'll be none of the tomfoolery that there was last time now, will there Mr Park?"

Adam turned his head to Rocky, "She wanted me to walk in really," Rocky nodded his agreement.

Kimberly poked him in the chest, "Do you want me to have Trini rip **you** limb from limb along with your partner-in-crime there?" she warned jokingly.

Adam put a hand over his heart, "Scout's honor, no peeking."

Kimberly entered the bathroom, but not before shooting a, "I should think so," over her shoulder as the door closed.

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"_Regeneration cycle complete."_

Space was cold.

That was Zedd's first thought as he hoisted himself out of the pink liquid and over the edge of the RG Unit, a handy little contraption that he'd managed to pick up during his conquest over Master Vile. It was designed to heal a person's body in a set period of time. How much time of course depended entirely on the amount of damage that had been sustained.

The ground cam rushing up at him and he hit the floor with a wet splat, immediately, albeit with some effort, rolling over onto his knees.

He saw Goldar out of the corner of his visor begin to approach and held up an outstretched hand before he could get nearer, "Come any closer Goldar and you may end up missing an arm as well as an eye," the gold clad warrior stopped dead in his tracks.

"How do you feel sire?" he asked, maintaining his distance.

"How do you think I feel?" Zedd growled, grabbing on to the edge of the RG Unit and pulling himself to his feet. He took a moment to assess his new body. The crack in his visor had fully healed, that much was obvious, but what about the rest? Raising an arm he sent it crashing against his metal ribs. There was a loud clang that echoed throughout the halls of the mostly deserted moon base, but there was no pain. If he had done that a few months ago the blow would have driven him to his knees.

Splendid.

Beneath the mask, Zedd's reptilian mouth curled into a feral smile, he turned to look at Goldar. "I feel strong again."

**To Be Continued**

So that's the first two chapters down, god knows how many to go. Anyways, as I always say please review and let me know what you think. And once again my humblest apologies go to my repeat readers.

Regards

Boulder


	3. Chapter 3: Reflection

**Reflection**

With a sigh Kimberly emerged from the bathroom feeling revitalized.

Head hanging to one side she vigorously toweled her wet hair with her left hand and smiled, "I feel _so_ much better," she announced to the three others who had been in the middle of watching the news. "Could you pass me that hair band please," she said to Trini, gesturing with her right hand at the open suitcase that lay on Adam's bed. Perched on the top of neatly folded piles of clothes lay a single pink circle that was quickly snatched up by the former yellow ranger and tossed to her best friend.

Discarding the towel in the laundry basket adjacent to the bathroom door, she ran long fingers through her shoulder length hair, to smooth it down, before pulling it back into a short ponytail and expertly twisting the hair band into place. Even though she knew she'd regret it later when her hair had frizzed into an unmanageable mess Kimberly decided to leave the blow-drying for later and instead strolled over to where Adam was seated, and plopped into his lap. The chair bed threatened backwards as if it was going to topple but, after a rather worrying moment, managed to stabilize itself. Adam had seemed not to notice and was just staring at her. She smiled down at him, "Hi."

"Hi."

"Aww, that's so cute," Trini cooed from her seat on the edge of Adam's bed. She turned to Rocky, "How come we're not that sweet?"

"Apart from the fact that you're an emotional basket case, nothing," Rocky mumbled from a safe distance of five feet, where he leaned comfortably against the wall. Kimberly saw that during her shower he'd obviously taken the time to go back to his apartment and change into something a little more respectable. The paint splattered t-shirt had been replaced by a plain red one while the faded jeans had been switched for a pair that still held their deep blue color.

"What was that?" Trini's asked, her eyes narrowing.

"Nothing, sweetie," he said with a grin.

Trini held the stare for a moment, imagining the hundred and one ways she was going to hurt him, before focusing her attention back on Adam and Kimberly. "So, how does it feel for you two lovebirds to be back together again?"

"If you start singing _Reunited_ by Peaches and Herb again, I'll hit you," Adam warned Rocky.

"I wasn't going to," the red ranger said innocently, secretly cursing inside his head.

Kimberly giggled her cheeks turning a slight shade of red, "It feels pretty great," she stated honestly.

She had expected Adam to say the same. He didn't, "Not bad I suppose."

"Oh!" she whirled around on him in false fury, "Is that right? Really…?" she said letting her voice drag, "Well…let…me…tell…you…something…Adam…Park," every word punctuated by a poke in the middle of the forehead, "_I'v_e decided that _you're_ not good enough for me, and so _I_ think we should break up," she turned away and folded her arms.

There was a pause, "Uh…you're still on my lap."

Kimberly turned back to face him briefly, "**I'm** aware of that," she said slowly and turned away again.

Adam smiled to himself and wrapped his arms around her waist, "Aw, I'm sorry," he coaxed.

"Don't touch me."

He chuckled, "Come on, you know my life would be meaningless if I didn't have you."

"I'm aware of that also."

Adam realized that she wasn't going to make this easy for him, "Tell me what I can do to make it up to you?" he forced her body sideways in an attempt to get her to face him, but she just craned her head away from his and stared at the ceiling. "You want some bling?"

Kimberly had to bite her lip to stop herself from laughing; Adam really couldn't pull off that word, "No, I do not," she stated firmly after getting herself back under control.

"A night of debauchery with the Rockster?"

"HELL YEAH…OW!" Rocky grabbed at his foot which was now firmly pinned under one of Trini's heels, "I mean…hell no? OW," he grabbed the top of his head, "Damn it woman. You'd better stop hitting me or I swear to god, one of these days I'll…" he trailed off as Trini leaned down closer to him.

"You'll what?" she coaxed.

"I'll…sit and take it," he moped.

Kimberly laughed and finally turned her head to look at Adam who was also watching the situation unfold with an amused smile, "On second thoughts, I forgive you," he glanced up at her and raised a quizzical eyebrow. She shrugged, "I'd really hate for us to turn into those two," she motioned with her head at the former red and yellow rangers, who had, in what appeared to be a matter of seconds, had apparently gotten over their hatred for one another, again, and were instead locked in a passionate embrace on Adams floor. "I don't even know how to describe their relationship."

"Warped?" Adam ventured before looking up at Kimberly. With one hand he brushed an errant strand of hair over one ear, she smiled shyly under his gaze, "I'm so happy you're back," he whispered gently, "I missed you so much."

Kimberly took a quick glance over at the groping couple in the corner to make sure that they were still preoccupied with one another and, therefore, not watching the two of them. What Kimberly wanted to say was personal, and thus she wanted nobody else to hear it except for Adam.

They definitely weren't paying attention. In fact, if they got any more hot and heavy she was going to dump a bucket of ice water over them. She leaned down and felt Adam shiver slightly when her warm breath collided with his ear as she whispered gently, "I love you," and gently placed a small hand on his chest.

The reaction was an immediate one, his entire body tensing in reflex to her touch. She felt him reach over to grab her gently by the wrist, "K…"

"Shh," she soothed, "Let me finish," she held firm, despite the gentle tug on her wrist, refusing to remove her hand from its resting place. There was a moment's stalemate, Kimberly waited patiently and eventually Adam relented, reluctantly relinquishing his grip on her. She paused briefly and then started again. "I love you," she repeated, her voice still a whisper. "_All_ of you," slowly, she began to slide her hand across his chest, feeling the bumps and ridges that the hidden scars beneath his shirt created. He swallowed loudly, a slight tremble rippling through him. "And I want you to know that I don't mind waiting," her hand reached the end of his athletic chest and started to backtrack across him once again, "For as long as it may be……until you're ready." Her hand settled over his pounding heart. She kept it there for a few seconds, feeling its vibrations travel through him and up her arm, "Do you remember what you told me?" she asked quietly.

"I remember," Adam's voice was strained, but she still felt a small amount of tension leave his body.

"Does it still beat for me?"

There was no hesitation in his voice, "Always."

Kimberly smiled into the side of his head. It was a thankful smile. "I'm glad," she whispered placing a lingering kiss on his cheek before pushing gently against his chest and lifting herself upright again. There was one last loving smile down at him before she removed her hand and turned to look at the, now practically fornicating, couple on the floor. "Hey! Stop that," she stood up and slowly began to journey across the room in an effort to break them up.

Adam sat rooted to his chair, unable to do anything except watch Kimberly try to separate the embracing rangers by way of gentle kicking. He was stunned. His heart was still smashing into his ribcage and the cold sweat that had begun to form at the baseline of his hair made his scalp tingle. But despite that, he felt relieved, well, relieved and thankful.

His mind wondered back in time to when Kimberly had told him that she'd be coming back to Angel Grove over Christmas, as planned. At the time he'd been both elated and unsettled.

The reasoning for his elation had been obvious; he missed her like crazy. While they spoke often, practically every other day if he remembered correctly, hearing her voice on the other end of the phone, rather than make him feel better, only made him miss her more. He'd lost count of the amount of times he'd held the picture Trini had taken of the two of them, the night that their relationship had changed, in his hands, doing nothing more but wishing that she were there with him. If only so that he could do nothing more but hold her, and feel the warmth of her body next to his.

But at the same time, despite the undying loving he felt, the idea of taking their relationship to the next level had left him feeling a little unnerved. He wanted to of course; god knows he wanted nothing more. And although he was deathly afraid of Kimberly's reaction to his shirtless form, it probably wouldn't have affected him, or the moment, when he did in fact expose his abused body to her. He knew Kimberly, and he also knew that she didn't care that his body looked like a carbon copy of Frankenstein's monster. She was kind and loving, plus she'd already seen it. To know that he could safely remove his top without sending her running screaming from the room was a relief all in itself.

But it wasn't all about sight. Sight was easy. It could be handled with turned off lights and closed curtains, he could fool himself in the dark into thinking that this body of his was normal. But, once again, this wasn't about sight. This was about touch. Touch, which is, obviously, an entirely different sense, one that can't be faked or fooled, perhaps the most honest of all one's senses. You can walk in the rain and tell yourself it's sunny until the cows come home, but you still feel it raining. You still feel cold and wet and miserable.

And there lay the problem. An entirely different problem that, he knew, was rooted even deeper inside of him. A problem that, no matter how much he denied it, he knew he couldn't hide from. Because every time somebody, even if it was himself, touched his body, and felt the pain that lived there, he was reminded. Reminded of the day when he, as the catalyst, orchestrated the demise of both his own happiness and the happiness of his entire family.

He could still remember it, vividly. Whenever somebody touched him, something inside of his head pressed a button, and he was forced to revisit that day. Forced to hear the scornful words he had spoken, forced to relive the angry flash of impatience he'd felt, forced to see the hurt expression he'd caused, and forced to hear the scream, the screech, the thud.

Forced to relive, the worst day of his life.

Adam snapped out of his thoughts and back to reality. He was sweating, and his hands gripped the chair tightly. He looked up to see Kimberly, still unsuccessfully, trying to separate his two friends who, of course, were still completely oblivious to her presence. He continued to watch for a few seconds, allowing himself time to calm down and collect his thoughts once again.

Then, with a deep breath, he smiled and stood. He wasn't at peace with himself or with what had happened, he was well aware of that. But he also knew that if there was anyone who could help him come to terms with it, then it was the angel standing before him, currently demanding that Rocky remove his hands from Trini's jeans. She had made him happy again.

He had been worried that she wouldn't want to wait, that she'd want to solidify their new relationship immediately. But her soft words had dispelled those worries. Meaning that, for now, he could just concentrate on spending as much time with her as possible.

And, at the moment, there was nothing he wanted more.

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There is nobody easier to manipulate, than a man in love.

Deep inside the lunar base, while standing alone in one its many alcoves, Zedd pondered the words spoken to him by his father a lifetime ago.

In the next room gargantuan machines, acquired with the sacrifice of a thousand unimportant lives, lay stacked up to the ceiling, humming busily as they calculated and processed data, which was then sent through to the single terminal unit stationed before him.

If he admitted it, Zedd had forgotten how good it had felt to be able to see with perfect clarity. The ability to glance at something, even briefly, and be able to understand and know what it was you were looking at, was, in his opinion, an undervalued commodity. A commodity he'd, funnily enough, never really appreciated until now.

But, with the crack in his visor now fully repaired, that had all changed and Zedd was relishing the renewed, rather pleasing, sensation of perfect vision. His eyes danced over the alien language before him, his mind translating it easily into his native language to be better understood, and felt a rush of superiority over what he was seeing.

"These earthlings are so primitive," he muttered to himself. How was it capable that a species, which had only twenty six characters in its most widely spoken language, had been able to best him on so many occasions?

He knew the answer of course.

Stored deep in the underbelly of the lunar base, away from the prying eyes of Goldar or any other of Zedd's many minions, being kept barely alive by the second regen unit that he'd managed to acquire, was Zedd's darling wife and daughter of the former Master Vile. Rita Repulsa.

After his victory over Vile Zedd had realized something. And it was that if he could bring the most powerful emperor to his knees and tear the throat out of a man described as many as _untouchable_, then what had stopped him from taking over the Earth? What had stopped the Galactic Destroyer from laying waste to the planet and leaving the human race as nothing more than a footnote in history? Was it Zordon and his gang of teenage do-gooders? Zedd didn't think so.

The reason had been Rita.

From the beginning she'd been insistent on enslaving the human race, rather than annihilating it. Many private arguments had followed between the two. Arguments in which Zedd had always relented, choosing the option of keeping his love happy rather than taking the initiative and doing what he knew was best.

Rita had proclaimed that she wanted Zordon to suffer as a penance for her years of imprisonment, and that the best way to do that was to take from him what he coveted the most. And that of course was the people of earth.

In theory she was correct, but in practice it had been an awful idea. Because trying to enslave the earthlings also meant that they'd also have to show some restraint. Instead of a full on invasion they had been forced to rely on that imbecile Finster's idiotic monsters. Monsters that, time and again, failed miserably to do anything other than make Zedd a laughing stock. But still Rita had refused to listen to reason citing that if he loved her then he should do anything to make her happy. And he did love her, so he continued to watch in silence as Zordon and the Power Rangers mocked him from earth.

But then things changed.

The war against Vile had begun.

Blaming Zedd for his own failure to conquer Earth, Master Vile had refused, even for a moment to entertain the possibility that he too had fallen victim to the exact same circumstances that had led Zedd to failure. That being the will of his daughter, Rita.

Demanding that Zedd apologize for the embarrassment that he had suffered, Vile, upon Zedd's outright refusal to do any such thing, declared his son in law an enemy of his kingdom, placing a rather hefty bounty on his head and immediately ordered Rita to return to her fathers side.

Much to Zedd's surprise, and to the utter shock of her father, Rita refused, sending her father a message that both swore loyalty to her husband and announced that she would renounce her right as heir to the empire if her father insisted on treating her husband as an enemy.

Within an hour of her broadcast, Zedd was at war with a third of the known galaxy.

Master Vile must have imagined that Zedd couldn't possibly put up much of a fight, and that his victory was assured from the beginning. However he underestimated Zedd, whose reputation, although slightly tarnished, still carried quite a lot of weight in many corners of the galaxy.

Pretty soon Zedd made him realize that the title of Galactic Destroyer wasn't earned for no good reason.

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The console beeped loudly breaking Zedd's concentration and drawing his attention back to the present where a recording was being played out on a continuous loop before him.

The video showed a young girl dressed in a smart business suit walking down a busy high street, possibly on her way to work. She chatted happily with two others and Zedd watched her laugh soundlessly, the excitement building inside of him. This one was perfect.

By hacking into the earthlings CCTV system Zedd had so far managed to locate ten of his former foes in a relatively short space of time. However, this one was different in a way that was crucial to both him and to his plan. She was completely isolated.

"Goldar," Zedd activated the communications button on his terminal, "Get down here."

"At once my lord," the response was immediate.

Zedd switched back to the recording and caressed the image with a finger, watching as the girl laughed again and again. She looked truly happy. "Savor that feeling,." he said gently, "Because you never know when it could be your last."

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**Edit**

Have changed a few things in this chapter and one thing in the previous chapter that were completely wrong. Luckily enough a reviewer was king enough to point these mistakes out to me. The main one being that Rita Repulsa's father is in fact Master Vile and not the Machine King which for some reason I had believed. So, in effect Zedd was at war with Master Vile and not the Machine King. Thanks goes to JasonScottLeeFan from preventing me from making even more of a prat of myself. :)

**To Be Continued**

Okay, there's the next one down. Apologies for taking so long to post but in all honesty most chapters will probably have a relatively large gap. Anyways, if you're enjoying the story please review and if you have a problem with it that's okay also. I'd just like to know what you think.

Regards

Boulder


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